National holiday celebrations end in disaster in Budapest
By: HATC (Hungary Around The Clock)
2006-08-21 10:04:00
Three people died and several others were injured when a tree was uprooted by a sudden storm on Bem Rakpart and in accidents around Batthyány tér during the annual fireworks display last night.
Fire service spokesman Péter Molnár told Kossuth Rádió that several cars were damaged in a windstorm in Buda. Disaster Control spokesman Tibor Dobson said 80 people were injured throughout the capital in the storm, while mayor Gábor Demszky convened a special meeting of the defence council to discuss damage limitation.
The storm interrupted the time-honoured St Stephen's Day fireworks show for a few minutes, but after a short delay the show restarted. However panic continued to spread amongst observers, and at least two boats collided on the Danube.
August 20 storm toll raises to four
By: HATC
2006-08-22 10:02:00
Four people died, not three as originally reported, around 500 were injured and one went missing when a storm hit the annual St Stephen's Day fireworks display in Budapest Sunday night.
A cabinet investigation was not a complete success, Magyar Hírlap says, with PMO leader György Szilvásy naming three people potentially responsible for the disaster: the chief executive of display organiser Nexus Rendezvényszervező; Tibor Bodor, a Prime Minister's Office departmental head; and the Budapest's Defence Committee head, mayor Gábor Demszky. Szilvásy also indirectly mentioned as responsible PMO undersecretary Miklós Tóth, state secretary Zoltán J. Gál and himself. Szilvásy claimed that it was highly unpredictable that such a powerful tornado would hit Budapest.
Nevertheless, the National Meteorological Office sent an urgent message to Disaster Control at 7.30 p.m. on Sunday night, which was only read at 11.30 p.m. The same warning message was once more sent by the office at 10.30 p.m. They had forecast a fierce storm but those who could have stopped the fireworks display were not informed.
Szilvásy is also quoted as saying that police and fire-fighters signalled to display organisers that it should be called off, which they did temporarily, but then chose to resume. Szilvásy said "though there was a plan to move crowds from the danger area, it would have taken two-and-a-half hours. The deaths and injuries were caused by the storm not by the fireworks display. In light of what has happened, legislation will be required to ensure safety during future mass public events," he added.
Balaton water police warned Budapest Police that a huge storm was sweeping across the lake and heading for the capital 15 minutes before it hit. A distress signal with the same content was sent later from Székesfehérvár. Budapest Police then contacted the National Meteorological Service, which said that gale force winds and a downpour were expected before long in Budapest.
Budapest Police then ordered full mobilisation and for patrol cars to prepare themselves. However the storm arrived without warning, causing a breakdown in the communications systems of medical and damage control services. Disaster Control did not act and police only later had access to critical information.
Before Szilvásy's briefing, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased, thanked all for their support and left the room.
Demszky did not accept responsibility for the disaster, and pointed out that all relevant laws had been observed to the letter. He said "we could not stop the fireworks display as government officials were in charge of the event." Népszabadság quotes Demszky as saying he "had not been alerted by anybody." However he failed to answer why he had failed to warn the crowd preparing to watch the fireworks display in Budapest about the dangers of the expected storm when two years ago he forecast a tornado which never came.
The Free Democrats and Democratic Forum both said it is bad taste "to make political hay out of the storm." Fidesz and the Christian Democrats put the blame onto the PMO and Demszky, saying that the latter is "unfit to be a defence leader as the act on civil defence clearly stipulates that the mayor is responsible for alerts, preparing briefings and executing procedures."
Deputy civil rights ombudsman, Albert Takács, told InfoRádió on Monday "if half as many people had issued instructions before Sunday's storm as initiated investigations on Monday, the disaster would probably have been averted."
The four dead included a 12-year-old girl and a 28-year-old man who were killed by a falling tree. A Romanian woman fell into the water from a capsized ship, and her body was found on Monday. The woman's husband also fell into the water and is yet to be found.
• Of the 500 injured, around a dozen were foreigners.
• The Budapest Fire Service was notified of 414 felled trees or damaged roofs
• 2,800 tree boughs were broken.
• 6,000mł of tree debris collected so far.
• 223 fire-fighters were on duty.
• 300 Budapest transport company staff took part in the clean-up operation.
• 70 traffic lights went out.
The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.
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National holiday celebrations end in disaster in Budapest-21-08-06 10:04